Grid feeder

ABSTRACT

A grid feeder device for storage battery grids or plates comprises a pivotally oscillating bellcrank-like member and associated grid stop means and grid guiding means which, with pickup disks, are interposed between input and output conveyors. The input conveyor consists of a pair of continuously orbiting endless flexible conveying elements or chains upon which a plurality of grids are supported in substantially vertical orientation, the continuous movement of the conveying elements tending to maintain such grids closely packed together and for urging the leading or forward several of the grids onto a support edge of the oscillating member when the latter is in its lower and rearwardmost position and against an abutment thereon. The support edge of the oscillating member periodically moves forwardly and upwardly carrying the several grids therewith and moving the forwardmost one of the grids into the path of a tooth on the rotating pickup disk, which rotates in synchronism with the oscillating member. The grid stop means limit the forward movement of the forwardmost grid so that only that grid is picked up by the tooth on the rotating pickup disk. As the forwardmost grid is lifted from the support edge of the oscillating member by the rotating pickup disk, the grid guiding means urges same firmly against the surface of the pickup disk above the tooth thereon and the support edge of the oscillating member returns downwardly and rearwardly to its original position for receiving an additional grid or grids from the input conveyor to repeat the above mentioned cycle of operation. In the meantime, the rotating disk transfers the aforementioned forwardmost grid to the output conveyor, the speed of the output conveyor being adjusted with respect to the speed of the rotating disk and oscillating member so that grids will be placed on the output conveyor in a horizontal and close spaced condition to allow further operations to be carried out thereon, such as a grid pasting operation.

United States Patent 11 1 Van Linder et al.

1451 July 3, 1973 GRID FEEDER [73] Assignee: Winkel Machine Company,Inc.,

Kalamazoo, Mich.

[22] Filed: Mar. 18, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 125,622

Primary Examiner-Edward A. Sroka Attorney-Woodhams, Blanchard & Flynn[57] ABSTRACT A grid feeder device for storage battery grids or platescomprises a pivotally oscillating bellcrank-like member and associatedgrid stop means and grid guiding means which, with pickup disks, areinterposed between input and output conveyors. The input conveyorconsists of a pair of continuously orbiting endless flexible conveyingelements or chains upon which a plurality of grids are supported insubstantiallyvertical orientation, the

continuous movement of the conveying elements tending to maintain suchgrids closely packed together and for urging the leading or forwardseveral of the grids onto a support edge of the oscillating member whenthe latter is in its lower and rearwardmost position and against anabutment thereon. The support edge of the oscillating memberperiodically moves forwardly and upwardly carrying the several gridstherewith and moving the forwardmost one of the grids into the path of atooth on the rotating pickup disk, which rotates in synchronism with theoscillating member. The grid stop means limit the forward movement ofthe forwardmost grid so that only that grid is picked up by the tooth onthe rotating pickup disk. As the forwardmost grid is lifted from thesupport edge of the oscillating member by the rotating pickup disk, thegrid guiding means urges same firmly against the surface of the pickupdisk above the tooth thereon and the support edge of the oscillatingmember returns downwardly and rearwardly to its original position forreceiving an additional grid or grids from the input conveyor to repeatthe above mentioned cycle of operation. In the meantime, the rotatingdisk transfers the aforementioned forwardmost grid to the outputconveyor, the speed of the output conveyor being adjusted with respectto the speed of the rotating disk and oscillating member so that gridswill be placed on the output conveyor in a horizontal and close spacedcondition to allow further operations to be carried out thereon, such asa grid pasting operation.

23 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENIEUJUL 3 I975 SHEET 2 OF 4 INVENTORSGRID FEEDER FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a gridfeeder and more particularly relates to a grid feeder device having anoscillating member interposed between an input conveyor and a pick updisk.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention arose as a solution toa vexing problem in the handling of grids for storage batteries and moreparticularly in the feeding thereof through a suitable processingmachine such as a grid pasting machine, and therefore is discussedhereafter in terms thereof. However, it is contemplated that the presentinvention is applicable to mechanisms for feeding pasted grids or platesto brushes and slitters and so forth and is also applicable to feedingof other platelike articles, particularly those having sidewardlyextending ears thereon. Conventionally, grids to be pasted are placedupon a horizontal conveyor belt which moves past a grid pasting station.Because it is necessary to a successful pasting operation that the fullsurface of one side of the grid be exposed to the pasting station,successive grids must not overlie each other in whole or in part. Also,little or no space must be left between the grids of the belt conveyorlest paste from the pasting station be applied to the face of the beltitself, since such would necessitate shutting down of the machine toclean the belt. Since the belt is normally run continuously at a fixedspeed, grids must be placed thereon in a properly timed sequence toavoid either overlapping of grids or excessive spacing therebetween.

One prior method of so placing grids on the belt conveyor associatedwith a pasting machine has been to provide one or more rotatable coaxialpickup disks located adjacent the head of the belt conveyor and toprovide an input conveyor consisting of a pair of spaced, continuouslymoving chains associated therewith in a manner that the chainscontinuously urge and pack a horizontal stack of vertical grids againstthe peripheries of the disks so that teeth on the disks pick up gridsfrom the stack and place same upon the belt conveyor. However, it hasbeen found that the pickup disks will not reliably pick up one and onlyone grid at a time from the stack. More particularly, if the teeth onthe disks are made large enough to reliably pick up a grid they willoften pick up more than one grid at a time which results in a completeor partial overlapping of grids on the pasting machine conveyor belt andthus an improper pasting of at least one of those grids. On the otherhand if the teeth on the disks are made sufficiently small that theywill reliably pick up no more than one grid from the stack, they willoften fail to pick up any grid, which results in a relatively large openspace on the belt between a pair of successive grids and thus results inan inadvertent application of paste to the belt. It is believed that theabove mentioned difficulty in proper transfer of single grids from theinput conveyor to the toothed disks may result from minor surfaceimperfections or roughness on the opposed faces of the grids which dueto the continuous urging thereof together by the input chain conveyorsometimes causes two or more of the grids to stick together so that thetoothed disks may pick up none or may pick up several of the gridsrather than the desired one grid at a time.

In response to such problems there has been developed in accordance withthe present invention a transfer structure hereinafter described indetail which assures a reliable transfer of one grid at a time from theinput chain conveyor .to the toothed pickup disk set and thus insuresthat grids will be placed upon the output belt conveyor in proper closespaced relationship and without overlapping.

Accordingly, the objects of this invention include provision of:

l. A grid feeder device which assures that articles such as grids forstorage batteries will be placed one at a time in a continuous evenlytimed sequence on an output member.

2. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, which will place articles on acontinuously moving output conveyor with a predetermined regular spacingand no overlapping.

3. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, in which transfer, means areprovided capable of reliably transferring one and only one article at atime from a close spaced or compressed stack thereof to rotating toothedpickup disks.

4. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, in which the transfer means willreliably transfer articles one at a time from a stack thereof to toothedpickup disks despite continuously applied urging of the articles in thestack together and toward the pickup disks and despite the tendency ofsuch articles to stick together in groups of two or more.

5. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, which is particularly adapted tofeeding of battery grids to a grid pasting machine but which is alsoreadily adaptable to handling of other articles of a more or lesssimilar nature for feeding same to a desired location.

6. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, in which the transfer meansincludes an oscillating member interposed between the input conveyor andtoothed rotating disks which oscillates in synchronism with rotation ofthe disks and also includes guide means for assisting in assuringtransfer of one and only one article at a time.

7. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, which is adaptable totransferring articles reliably in fixed-size groups other than one andwhich, for example, may be adapted to transfer articles reliably two ata time, three at a time, etc., if desired.

8. A grid feeder device, as aforesaid, which is of simple and reliableconstruction, is capable of economical manufacture and of reliableservice for long periods of time and which is readily servicable.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to personsacquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading thefollowing specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially broken sideelevational view of the grid feeder device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view taken from the leftward end of the device ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a three-quarter, top pictorial view of the central portion ofthe device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view substantiallytaken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 2 and showing the oscillating memberin its lower,

rightward limiting position.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 and showing the oscillating member inits upper, rightward limiting position.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view substantially taken along theline VIVI of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view substantially taken along theline VIIVII of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 5 and showing a tooth on thetoothed disk in a position intermediate that of FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and disclosing a modification.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary, partially broken side elevational view of amodified grid feeder device.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view substantially taken on the line XIXI of FIG.10.

Certain terminology will be used in the following description forconvenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words up,down, right and left will designate directions in the drawings to whichreference is made. The words forwardly and rearwardly will refer to thedirection of material flow through the device, forwardly being thenormal flow direction. The words in and out" will refer to directionstoward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the deviceand designated parts thereof. Such terminology will include derivativesand words of similar import.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects and purposes of the invention aremet by providing a grid feeder device for storage battery grids orplates comprising a pivotally oscillating bellcranklike member andassociated grid stop means and grid guiding means which, with pickupdisks, are interposed between input and output conveyors. The inputconveyor consists of a pair of continuously orbiting endless flexibleconveying elements or chains upon which a plurality of grids aresupported in substantially vertical orientation, the continuous movementof the conveying elements tending to maintain such grids closely packedtogether and for urging the leading or forward several of the grids ontoa support edge of the oscillating member when the latter is in its lowerand rearwardmost position and against an abutment thereon. The supportedge of the oscillating member periodically moves forwardly and upwardlycarrying the several grids therewith and moving the forwardmost one ofthe grids into the path of a tooth on the rotating pickup disk, whichrotates in synchronism with the oscillation of the oscillating member.The grid stop means limit the forward movement of the forwardmost gridso'that only that grid is picked up by the tooth on the rotating pickupdisk. As the forwardmost grid is lifted from the support edge of theoscillating member by the rotating pickup disk, the grid guiding meansurges same firmly against the surface of the pickup disk above the tooththereon and the support edge of the oscillating member returnsdownwardly and rearwardly to its, original position for receiving anadditional grid or grids from the inputconveyor to repeat the abovementioned cycle of operation. In the meantime, the rotating disktransfers the aforementioned forwardmost grid to the output conveyor,the speed of the output conveyor being adjusted with respect to thespeed of the rotating disk and oscillating member so that grids will beplaced on the output conveyor in a horizontal and close spaced conditionto allow further operations to be carried out thereon, such as a gridpasting operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The device 10 (FIG. 1) embodying the invention maybe considered to consist of three structurally and functionallyinterconnected sections, a leftward or input section 11, a central ortransfer section 12 and a right ward or output section 13. The device 10comprises a frame structure 16 comprising rightward and leftwardsidewalls 17 and 18, respectively, as seen in FIG. 2.

The input section 11 is arranged for presenting a plurality of articles21, which in the preferred embodiment of the invention are batterygrids, in horizontally stacked relation to the transfer section 12.Although the present invention was developed in connection with suchbattery grids, it is contemplated that other generally similar articlesmay be handled by the device 10 either in the condition disclosed orwith relatively minor modifications.

The battery grids 21 are conventional but will be briefly described forpurposes of more clearly illustrating the invention. The grids 21 aresubstantially planar though same may have an intentional surface pattern(not shown) and/or any of a variety of types of surface imperfections orroughness tending to make same stick together when packed into a stackedrelationship as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The device 10 of the presentinvention is capable of handling such grids despite any such surfaceroughness or the like resulting in a tendency of the stacked grids tostick together and, of course, will also be capable of handling smoothfaced and nonadherent grids as well. The grids 21 are substantiallyrectangular in form and are provided adjacent the top edge thereof, asseen in FIG. 2, with rightward and leftwardly-extending ears or lugs,one of which is indicated at 22.

The input section 11 comprises an endless conveyor which in the presentembodiment includes a pair of elongated endless flexible elements suchas chains 24 and 25. The chains are each supported by a plurality, herethree, of sprockets 26 mounted for rotation on the corresponding ones ofthe sidewalls 17 and 18 by any convenient means, shown for example at 27and 28. The three sprockets 26 are located at respective apices of animaginary triangle (not shown) so that the chains 24 and 25 passingthereover describe substantially triangular orbits. Thus, each of thechains has at a given instant an upper substantially horizontal reach 29and a pair of lower reaches extending downwardly substantially towardthe intermediate bearing support 28. The upper surface of the upperreach 29 extends slightly above the adjacent top edge 31 of the adjacentone of the frame structure sidewalls 17 and 18 for supporting theadjacent cars 22 of the grids 21 thereon, the remaining or intermediateportion of the grids depending loosely between the adjacent chains 24and 25 and the adjacent portions of the frame structure sidewalls l7 and18.

The chains 24 and 25 are rotatably driven with the upper reaches 29thereof moving rightwardly as seen in FIG. 1 and thus forwardly in thedirection of the arrow A. In the normal operation of the device 10, ahorizontal stack of grids 21, which are held in a substantially verticalorientation (here by gravity) are placed between the chains 24 and 25with the cars 22 thereof supported by such chains, the forward movementof the chains tending to move the grids 21 forwardly toward the transfersection 12 and to pack or compress same snugly together. The chains 24and 25 are rotatably driven at a preselected fixed speed by anyconvenient and conventional means (not shown).

The output section 13 comprises an output conveyor surface 33 (FIGS.1-3) which is axially aligned with the input section 11 and transfersection 12 and travels rightwardly or forwardly in the direction of thearrow B (FIG; 1) in a preferably substantially horizontal plane.Although the upper surface 33 and the upper reaches 29 of the chains 24have been indicated to be substantially horizontal, it is fullycontemplated that same may be inclined with respect to the horizontalplane and/or with respect to each other. The conveyor surface 33preferably passes beneath and adjacent a suitable work station of anydesired type for conducting a work operation on articles 21 supported ona conveyor surface 33 and passing therebeneath. In the particularembodiment shown, where the articles 21 are for purposes ofillustration, battery grids, the work station 35 may be a grid pastingstation of a conventional type arranged for applying paste to the grids21 as they pass therebeneath.

The conveyor surface 33 preferably comprises the upper reach of anendless belt conveyor, generally indicated at 36, which extendsrightwardly past the work station from a point in the region of thetransfer section 12, as generally indicated at 38 (FIG. 1) in brokenlines. The belt conveyor 36 is rotatably driven from any convenient andconventional power source (not shown) at a fixed speed synchronized, ashereinafter described, with respect to the speed of the upper reaches 29of input conveyor chains 24 and 25. In the particular embodiment shown,wherein the reaches 29 and output conveyor surface 33 are horizontal,the latter is preferably elevated somewhat above the former.

The transfer section 12 includes a pair of pickup disks 40 and 41 (FIGS.1-5) located adjacent the sidewalls 17 and 18, respectively, andcoaxially mounted on and for rotation with a shaft 42. The ends of theshaft 42 are mounted on the sidewalls 17 and 18 for rotation withrespect thereto and by suitable and conventional bearings (not shown). Asprocket, indicated in broken lines at 43 in FIG. 1, is located near themidpoint of the shaft 42 and secured thereto for rotation therewith. Thesprocket 43 is driven through a chain 44 by any convenient rotativedrive means such as an electric motor (not shown), which is preferablysynchronized with the drive for the belt conveyor 36 and conveyor chains24 and 25 in a manner hereinafter de scribed.

The pickup disks 40 and 41 carry teeth 46, four teeth per disk in theparticular embodiment shown. However, a fewer number, such as two or agreat number, may be provided as desired and depending on the nature ofthe articles 21 handled. The same number of teeth are provided on eachof the disks 40 and 41. The teeth 46 are evenly circumferentially spacedaround the perimeter of the pickup disks 40 and 41. The disks 40 and 41are circumferentially arranged on the shaft 42 in such a way that theleading edges 47 (FIG. 4) OF the teeth 46 on the disk 40 are aligned, inparallelism with the shaft 42, with the leading edges 47 ofcorresponding teeth 46 on the disk 41. Thus, the leading edges 47 ofcorresponding teeth 46 on the disks 40 and 41 will simultaneously passthrough the plane defined by the upper edge of the horizontal reaches 29of the chains 24 and 25.

The disks 40 and 41 are driven, as seen in FIG. 1, in a clockwisedirection, as indicated by the arrow C.

The leading edges 47 of the teeth 46 are preferably angled forwardly tosome extent, for example between an angle of zero and 35, so that theouter peripheral end of the leading edge 47 preceeds the inner end ofthe leading edge 47 during rotation of the disks. The trailing edge 48of each of the teeth 46 preferably extends, more or less smoothly, intothe following peripheral portion of the corresponding disk. The heightof the teeth 46, beyond the periphery of the disk and at the leadingedge 47, is at least as great as the thickness of the articles or grids21 and preferably exceeds same. Thus, in the particular embodimentshown, the height of the teeth 46 approximate the thickness of two ofsuch grids 21. However, it will be noted that where it is intended thatthe disks pick up more than one article at a time, that the height ofthe teeth 46 should at least be equal to and preferably exceed the totalthickness of the quantity of articles to be picked up at one time.

Thus, the pick up disks 40 and 41 in cooperation with remaining portionsof the transfer section 12 hereinafter described, are adapted to pick uparticles 21 from the vicinity of the rightward ends of the upper reaches29 of the chains 24 and 25 by contact of the leading edges 47 with theears 22 of the articles 21, moving such articles upwardly and forwardlyand then allowing same to move downwardly onto the output conveyorsurface 33.

A pair of guide rods 51 are'supported by any convenient fixed means (notshown) below and rearwardly of the shaft 42 and extend upwardly past therear face of the shaft, thereafter curving forwardly thereover to apoint near the rearward end of the endless belt conveyor 36. The guiderods 51 substantially parallel the rearward reach of the drive chain 44as well as the portion thereof contacting the sprocket 43 on the shaft42 but are spaced outwardly from the shaft 42 somewhat therebeyond,though at a distance less than that 'of the teeth 46 on the pick updisks 40 and 41. Thus, the guide rods 51 slidably support the trailingor bottom edge of articles or grids 21 supported on the disks 40 and 41as same are moved toward the output conveyor 36, preventing same fromcontacting the shaft 42 or drive chain 44 and causing same to assume ahorizontal or substantially horizontal position prior to coming to restupon the output conveyor surface 33.

Turning now to a portion of the transfer section 12 which comprises aprimary aspect of the present invention, there is provided oscillatingmeans which, in the particular embodiment shown, comprise a pair ofoscillating members 56 (FIGS. 4 through 8). The oscillating members 56are disposed between the disks 40 and 41, one such oscillating memberbeing disposed closely adjacent each such disk.

The oscillating members 56 are preferably mirror images of each otherand a description of one will thus suffice for both. Thus, as seen inFIG. 4, the oscillating member 56 is of generally L-shaped configurationhaving a preferably substantially flat bottom edge 58, and a rearwardedge 59 which is substantially upstanding and which has a forwardlysloped upper portion 60. The oscillating member 56 further has arelatively short top or support edge 62 adjoining the sloped portion 60and which is terminated at its forward end by an upstanding tab 63. Thetab 63 has a rearwardly facing abutment edge 64. With the oscillatingmember 56 in its downwardmost or rearwardmost position shown in FIG. 4,the support edge 62 and abutment edge 64 are respectively substantiallyhorizontal and vertical. The forward edge 66 of the oscillating member56 is concavely curved through the majority of its length, extendingfrom the tab 63 downwardly and then forwardly, on a curve substantiallyparalleling the periphery of the adjacent one of the pickup disks 40 and41,

to a convexly curved forward end 67 which adjoins the bottom edge 58.Thus, the oscillating member 56 is, in the particular embodiment shown,substantially L- shaped having a forwardly extending leg 69 hereinafterreferred to as the drive leg, and upwardly extending leg 70 hereinafterreferred to as the support leg.

Each of the oscillating members 56 is pivotally supported for movementin its own plane and hence in parallelism with the plane of rotation ofthe disks 40 and 41 by a suitable stub shaft 72 (FIGS. 4 and 7). Thestub shaft 72 is fixedly supported on a portion 73 (FIG. 7) of thecorresponding one of the sidewalls l7 and 18, such portion 73 comprisingasubstantially upstanding plate spaced outwardly of the plane of theadjacent disk, spaced inwardly somewhat from the remainder of thecorresponding one of .the sidewalls l7 and 18 and rigidly fixed to thelatter by a suitable connecting'portion 74 (FIG. 6). A furtherupstanding plate 76 is spaced inwardly from and parallel to each plate73 and is substantially coplanar with the adjacent oscillating member56.,The plates 73 and 76 are joined by a rectangular section,longitudinally extending member 77 (FIGS. 4 and 7) forming an upwardlyfacing groove on which the corresponding one of the chains 24 and isslidably carried. The forward ends of the rectangular cross-sectionmembers 77 terminate at a point spaced leftwardly from the oscillatingmembers 56 and from the rightward ends of the upper reaches of thechains 24 and 25.

Each stub shaft 72 is located near the lower rearward corner of thecorresponding oscillating member 56 constituted by the juncture of theedges 58 and 59 thereof. Thus, pivoting of the oscillating member 56about the axis of the stub shaft 72 causes a corresponding arcuatemovement of the drive leg 69 and support leg 70 thereof. Thus, the driveleg 69 follows a curved but substantially vertical path whereas thesupport leg 70 including the support edge 62 and abutment edge- 64,moves through an arcuate path from its position in FIG. 4 both upwardlyand forwardly to its position of FIG. 5.

A can shaft 79 is fixedly supported for rotation with respect to thesidewalls l7 and 18 by means of bearings, one of which is shown at 80(FIG. 7), secured to the plate 73 by any convenient means such as screws81. The cam shaft 79 extends below and adjacent the forward end 67 ofthe oscillating member 56 and has an eccentric or cam surface 82 locatedbeneath each of the oscillating members 56.

Each of the oscillating members 56 carries a stub shaft 83 upon which issupported a rotatable roller 84 which rolls on the cam surface 82whereby, upon rotation of the cam shaft 79, the forward end 67 of theoscillating member 56 is caused to rise and fall to an ex; tentdetermined by the eccentricity and diameter of the cam surface 82.

A spring 86 (FIG. 4) which in the particular embodiment shown is acoiled tension spring, is secured to the oscillating member 56 at apoint spaced somewhat to the rear of the roller 84 and extendsdownwardly therefrom to a point of securement (not shown) fixed withrespect to the frame structure 16 of the device 10 for resilientlyholding the roller 84 against the cam surface 82.

In the particular embodiment shown, the eccentricity and diameter of thecam surface 82 is arrangedso that when the cam surface 82 is at itsmaximum height, as shown in FIG. 4, the oscillating member 56 is in itsfully counterclockwise position, the support surface 62 is substantiallyhorizontal and is substantially in the plane of the top of the upperreaches 29 of the chains 24 and 25 and the abutment surface 64 is spacedrearwardly from the path of the teeth 46 on the disks 40 and 41. On theother hand, when the cam surface 82 is at its lowermost point, whereatthe position of rotation of the shaft 79 is 180 from that shown in FIG.4, and as shown in FIG. 5, the oscillating member 56 is in its fullyclockwise position wherein the support surface 62 is spaced somewhatabove the plane of the top of the upper reaches 29 of the chains 24 and25, is sloped slightly forwardly and overlaps the path of the leadingedges 47 of the teeth 46 on the disks 40 and 41 and wherein the abutmentsurface 64 lies. forwardly of the adjacent path of the teeth 46, the tab63 thus overlying the disks 40 and 41.

The cam shaft 79 is driven in synchronism with the shaft 42 by anyconvenient and conventional means as indicated by the broken line 78 ofFIG. 4.

Guide-stop assemblies 88 and 89 (FIGS. 2-7) are provided on both sidesof the device 10, outward of and adjacent the forward ends of the chains24 and 25, respectively. The assemblies 88 and 89 are preferably mirrorimages of each other and hence a description of one will suffice forboth.

Considering then the guide-stop assembly 89, same includes a base block91 (FIG. 7) which is fixed to the plate 73 below the chain 25 by screws92 and extends horizontally outwardly from the plate 73. The block 91supports a stop unit 94 (FIGS. 6 and 7). The stop unit 94 includes afixed block 95 secured atop the base block 91 by any convenient meanssuch as welding and provided with a suitable bore (not shown)therethrough for receiving an adjustment screw 96 which extendsforwardly therethrough. A generally Z-shaped stop member 97 comprises acentral and forwardly extending portion 98, a screw receiving portion 99located at the rearward end of the central portion 98 and a stop block101 located at the forward end of the central portion 98.

The screw receiving portion 99 extends laterally outwardly from thecentral portion 97, away from the plate 73, and is provided with athreaded opening (not shown) for receiving the screw 96. The screwreceiving portion 99 is located forwardly of the fixed block 95, itsspacing therefrom being determined by rotation of the screw 96. The stopmember 97 is supported by the screw 96 and also on the upper edge ofplate 73 as 1 hereinafter discussed and is prevented from rotationaboutthe longitudinal axis of the central portion 98 by contact with theupper face of the base block 91.

The stop block 101 extends laterally inwardly from the central portion98 above the forward portion of the plate 73 and into close spacedadjacency where the laterally outer face of the pickup disk 41 adjacentthe periphery thereof. The stop block 101 preferably rides along the topof the plate 73 in sliding supported relation thereon, the stop block101 being fixed to an elevated forward end portion of the centralportion 98. Thus, rotation of the screw 96 will, through the resultantforward or rearward motion of the screw receiving portion 99 and centralportion 98 of the stop member 97, cause forward and rearward motion ofthe stop block 101 along the top of the plate 73.

The stop block 101 has a rearwardly extending, preferably vertical stopface 102 adjacent the laterally inner end thereof, which lies closelyadjacent the periphery of the disk 41. Upon proper adjustment of thescrew 96, the stop block 101 is normally positioned, as seen in FIG. 8,at a distance forwardly of the path of the outer extremity of leadingface 47 of the tooth 46 on the adjacent pickup disk 41, which distanceis slightly greater than half the width of the article 21 orrearwardmost of several articles 21 to be picked up at one time by thepick-up disks. Thus, the rearwardly facing stop face 102 is normallypositioned intermediate the outer and inner ends of the leading toothedge 47 when the corresponding tooth 46 is in its position of FIG. 8,that is, in a position adjacent the upper edge 29 of the input conveyorchains 24 and 25. Since the stop face 102 is positioned laterally veryclosely adjacent the disk 41, it is in the path of the ears 22 of thearticle 21 so that the articles 21 can be moved no farther forwardlythan the stop face 102 until same are picked up by the teeth 46 on thepickup disks 40 and 41 and moved upwardly beyond the stop block 101. Thestop face 102 extends upwardly beyond the plane of the top face of theupper reaches of the chains 24 and 25 by a distance approximating theheight of the ears 22 on the articles 21, which in the presentembodiment is a very small fraction of the radius of the pickup disks 40and 41.

The guide-stop assemblies 88 and 89 each further include a guide unit,the guide unit associated with the guide-stop assembly 89 beingindicated at 105. The guide unit 105 includes a preferably substantiallyrectilinear support bar 107 which is fixed to and extends upwardly fromthe base block 91, the top of the support bar 107 being, in theparticular embodiment shown, located above the plate 73 in spacedrelationship thereto and also above the shaft 42.

A guide roller support 109 (FIGS. 4, 6 and 7) includes a pin 110 whichis rotatably and slidably located within a hole (not shown) whichextends laterally through the support bar 107 adjacent the upper endthereof. A set screw 111 threadedly engages a suitable opening (notshown) in the upper end of the support bar 107 for engaging theperiphery of the pin 110 for holding same in a fixed position ofadjustment. An arm 112 extends slidably through a diametral opening 113in the pin 1 10. The opening 113 is located adjacent the rightward (asseen in FIG. '7) end of the pin 110 approximately in alignment with thepickup disk 41. A set screw 114 threadedly engages an axial opening inthe rightward (FIG. 7) end of the pin 110 for engaging the opposed faceof the arm 112 so as to' hold same in fixed location with respect to thepin 110. The arm 112 extends forwardly and downwardly from the pin 110,terminating above the oscillating member 56 and adjacent the orbit ofthe teeth 46 on the pickup disk 41 as seen in FIG. 4. The forward end ofthe arm 112 supports a laterally inwardly extending stub shaft 115 uponwhich is rotatably mounteda guide roller 117.

The guide roller 117 is located, laterally inwardly of the pickup disk41 and in close spaced relationship therewith. A portion of theperiphery of the roller overlaps the orbit of the outer edges of theteeth 46. The bottom of the roller 117 lies in close spaced relationshipabove the articles 21 for urging the one (or several) of the articles 21picked up at a given time by a tooth 46 fully onto the leading edge 47of such tooth and against the adjacent leading peripheral portion of thewheel 41 (FIG. 8) as the ear 22 of such article 21 is raised by therotation of the pickup disk 41 above the stop face 102.

A guide leaf support 123 (FIGS. 4, 6 and 7) includes a pin 125 whichparallels the pin 110 and is located therebelow. The pin 125 extendsrotatably and slidably through a suitable opening (not shown) in theupstanding support bar 107 and is secured fixedly thereto in a desiredposition of adjustment by a set screw 126 which extends forwardlythrough a suitable threaded opening (not shown) in the rearward face ofthe support bar 107 into locking contact with the opposed periphery ofthe pin 125.

The pin 125 extends laterally inwardly beyond the guide roller 117. Aleaf spring 127 is secured at its rearward end to the underside of thepin 125 by any convenient means such as screws 128. The leaf spring 127comprises a rearward end portion 129 (FIG. 4) which is, in theparticular embodiment shown, substantially flat and extends forwardlyfrom the pin 125 at a shallow upward angle. The intermediate portion 131of the spring 127 extends upwardly and forwardly from the rearwardportion 129 and is smoothly curved approximately about the axis of theshaft 42, lying at a distance therefrom approximately equal to butslightly greater than the radius of the tip of the teeth 46. The forwardend or tip portion 132 of the spring 127 is preferably upwardly curvedby a small amount.

When properly positioned as shown in FIG. 4, the curved portion 131 ofthe leaf spring contacts the upper edge of the one or ones of thearticles 21 supported on the adjacent tooth of the pickup disk 41 andurges same into firm contact with the one of the teeth 46 supportingsame, at least until the article 21 has moved to a positionsubstantially above the shaft 42, for the purpose of preventing thearticle or articles from being dislodged from such tooth 46.

OPERATION Although the operation of the device described above has beensubstantially indicated above, same will now be summarized to assure aclear understanding of the invention.

Preparatory to operating the device 10, the guidestop assemblies 88 and89 are, if necessary, adjusted. More particularly, the screw 96 may berotated to shift the stop member 97 forwardly or rearwardly as requiredto properly position the stop face 102 with respect to the orbit of theleading tooth edges 47 of the pickup disks 40 and 41. When so properlypositioned, the stop face 102 is located as shown in FIG. 8 (where, forexample, one article 21 is to be picked up at a time). Thus, as shown inFIG. 8, the stop face 102 is spaced rearwardly from the peripheralportion 118 of the pick-up disk 41 and is spaced forwardly of the freeend of the leading edge 47 by a distance corresponding to somewhat morethan one-half the thickness of the article 21 but less than the entirethickness thereof. This way, the leading edge 47 can contact and pick uponly one such article 21 at a time, that being the forwardmost one 21Athereof. The leading edge 47 thus cannot contact and pick up theadjacent article 218.

During this adjustment of the stop member 97, the bottom face of thestop block 101 rides smoothly along the horizontal upper surface of theplate 73, the stop block 101 thus retaining a constant height oraltitude during the adjustment process.

To properly position the guide roller 117, the set screw 111 may beloosened and the pin 110 rotatably and/or axially adjusted to positionthe guide roller 117 so that it is located preferably slightly inwardlyof the corresponding and adjacent pickup disk 41. The set screw 114 maybe loosened to allow positioning of the roller 117 at a proper radialdistance from the pin 110. When proper adjustment is achieved, the setscrews 111 and 114 are retightened to hold the roller 117 in fixedposition. As a result of the foregoing adjustment, the roller 117 isproperly located in a position just spaced above the highest position ofthe top of the articles 21 when the latter are supported on the supportedge 62 of the oscillating member 56 as shown in FIG. 5. Further, thecorrect position of the roller 117 places the forwardmost portion of itsperiphery in overlapping relationship with the orbit of the outer edgeof the teeth 46 on the pickup disk 41. When so positioned, the roller117 will contact an article (or articles) 21 picked up by a tooth 46just after such article has left the oscillating member 56 and will urgesuch article inwardly along the leading edge 47 of the tooth into firmcontact with the adjacent peripheral portion 118 of the pickup disk,thus causing the article to shift from a position on the tooth where itis only partially supported thereby to a position where it is mostfirmly supported by the tooth.

The guide leaf 127 is adjusted and positioned by loosening of the setscrew 126 to allow rotation and axial shifting of the pin 125. Whenproperly positioned the leaf spring 127 is spaced laterally inwardlyfrom the adjacent disk 41 as shown in FIG. 7 and the curved portion 131thereof lies substantially on a constant radius from the axis of theshaft 42 as illustrated in H6. 4 and at a location spaced slightlyoutwardly from the path of the outer peripheral edge of the teeth 46 soas to prevent articles 21 supported by the teeth, during the upwardmovement thereof from the oscillating member 56, from becomingdisengaged from such teeth.

With the above adjustments made, a plurality of articles 21, such asstorage battery grids, may be placed on the input chains 24 and 25, samepreferably though not necessarily being placed adjacent the forward endof the chains. Thereafter, the drive means (not shown) for the chains 24and 25, the belt conveyor 36, the disks 40 and 41 and the oscillatingmembers 56 may be started. Further articles 21 may be placed on thechains 24 and 25 at any time. The work station 35 may be activatedeither at this point or as articles 21 appear therebeneath, dependingupon the character of the work station.

The above-mentioned chains 24 and 25, belt conveyor 26, disks 40 and 41and oscillating members 56 are preferably driven from common powersource (not shown) by any convenient means, the belt conveyor 36, disks40 and 41 and oscillating members 56 preferably being positivelyconnected to such drive source, for example, by means such as a chain orgear drive, as exemplified by the disk drive chain 44, since it isdesired that the aforementioned members operate in synchronism.

Such synchronism will be achieved if the speeds of the severalaforementioned entities are properly related as hereinafter discussed.More particularly then, for a desired number G of articles or grids 21passing beneath the work station 35 per unit time, the lineal speed V ofthe conveyor belt 36, and hence of the conventional rotative drivetherefor, may be determined from the following relation:

V, G(H+S) where H represents the height of the article or grid(considered in its vertical position as in FIG. 2) and S represents thedesired spacing be-- tween grids on the upper conveyor surface 33.

The rotative speed D of the disks 40 and 41 and hence of the shaft 42 isgiven by the relation:

D G/N where N is the number of teeth 46 per disk.

The rotative rate of the cam shaft 79 which actuates the oscillatingmember 56 is merely G, the rate of grid flow per unit time past the workstation 35.

Finally, the speed V of the input chains 24 and 25 is representated bythe relationship:

V WG where W is the thickness of the grids or articles 21.

The input chains 24 and 25 may be operated continuously and thus run ata constant speed. In such case, the speed V of the chains 24 and 25typically will be in the range of 2 to 30 percent greater than WG.

Alternatively, the input chains 24 and 25 may be operated intermittentlyby any conventional means, in which case the speed V in the aboverelationship will be an average speed over the plurality of suchperiodic actuations. In the case of intermittent actuation it ispreferred that for grids of 0.050 inch to 0.100 inch thickness that thechains be advanced linearly a distance of approximately 0.300 inch peractuation and that for grids of greater than 0.100 inch thickness thatthe grids be advanced a maximum of approximately 0.625 inch lineartravel per actuation, the chains being advanced by the above-mentioneddistances once per cycle of the oscillating members 56. The distance ofchain advancement per cycle of the oscillating member 56 will in eachcase be greater than the individual thickness of the grids. Advancingthe chains 24 and 25 in such an intermittent manner normally will reducethe tendency of the chains to frictionally wear away the lower edge ofthe ears 22 on the articles 21, which may be of importance where thegrids or plates 21 are of soft materials such as lead or the likewhereas the operation of the chains continuously particularly at a speedsubstantially greater than required to deliver articles 21 to theoscillating members 26 in a timely manner may tend to excessively wearthe undersides of grids or plates of such soft materials. Whetheroperated continuously or intermittently as above described, the speed ofthe input chains is synchronized with that of the oscillating members 56and so forth by driving same in any conventional and convenient manner.

The stack of articles or grids 21 is moved forwardly on and by thechains 24 and 25, the leading several thereof being passed by the chainsonto the support edges 62 of the oscillating members 56, when the latterare in their downward position of FIG. 4, and into snug contact with theabutment edges 64 thereof. The forward movement of the upper reaches ofthe chains 24 and 25 in accordance with the above-mentioned speedrelationship maintains the articles 21 snugly packed against theabutment surface 64. The shaft 42 and cam shaft 79 are so synchronizedthat the oscillating member 56 will be in its lowermost position shownin FIG. 4 when the portion of the disk 41 adjacent the upper end of theoscillating member 56 is approximately evenly spaced between teeth 46 onthe disk 41, such teeth being indicated at 46A and 468 for conveniencein reference.

Thereafter, continued rotation of the shafts 42 and 79 causes the tooth468 to rise and causes the oscillating member 56 to pivot in a clockwisedirection, moving the supporting edge 62 thereof upwardly above theupper surface of the chains 24 and 25 and forwardly toward the peripheryof the disk 41. The oscillating member 56 reaches its upwardmost andforwardmost position shown in FIG. 8 as the tooth 46B rises to the levelthereof.

In the position of the elements shown in FIG. 8, several, here eight, ofthe articles 21 are supported on the support edge 62 of the oscillatingmember 56, whereas the remaining articles 21 are spaced rearwardlytherefrom and are not pressed into contact therewith by the chains 24and 25 due to contact thereof with the forwardly sloped upper portion 60of the oscillating member 56. Thus, the several articles 21 on thesupport edge 62 of the oscillating member 56 are no longer pressedtightly together by the forward movement of the upper reaches of thechains 24 and 25 or by the remaining and rearwardly disposed furtherarticles 21 supported by such chains. Thus, the articles 21 carried onthe support edge 62, although nested closely together, are not urgedtogether by any large or significant force. Consequently, the ones ofthe articles 21 supported on the support edge 62 do not tend to sticktogether as they otherwise would and thus may be freely picked up one ata time (or several at a time if the length of the tooth 46B protrudingbeyond the stop face 102 permits). The stop edge 102, in the particularembodiment shown, extends forwardly beyond the portion 1 18 of theperiphery of the disk 41 sufficiently that the remaining length of theleading edge 47 extending therebeyond is less than the thickness of oneof the articles 21. Thus, the tooth 46B engages only the forwardmost one21A of the articles and does not engage the remaining ones thereof.

' As a result, the tooth 46B will pick up, on the tip of its leadingedge 47, the forwardmost one of the articles 21A as the disk continuesto rotate in a clockwise direction, leaving the remainder of thearticles 21 including the article 21B supported by the support edge 62.

During the time that the tooth 46B moves into contact with the article21A and lifts same from the support edge 62, the abutment edge 64 isspaced well forwardly of the stop face 102 and thus does not interferewith the tooth 46B picking up the forwardmost article 21A.

The oscillating member 56 remains in or substantially in its forwardmostposition with the abutment edge 64 located forwardly of the stop face102 at least until the pickup disk has rotated sufficiently, toward itsposition in FIG. 5, to cause the ears 22 of the article 21A to belocated above and clear the abutment edge 64. Once such clearance hasbeen achieved, the oscillating member 56 may begin its counterclockwiseor return pivotal movement toward its starting position mentioned ofFIG. 4.

As the forwardmost article 21A is raised from the abutment surface 62 bythe tooth 468, the ear 22 of such article is supported substantiallyupon the outermost tip of the tooth 46B, partially overhangs the toothand is spaced from the adjacent disk peripheral portion 118. The article21A, as it rises with the tooth 468 toward its position of FIG. 5, iscontacted on its rearward face by the guide roller 117 and as the upperedge of such article moves upwardly past the roller 117, said rollerurges the car 22 of the article radially inwardly along the leading edge47 of the tooth 46B into contact with the peripheral portion 118 of thedisk so that the article 21A is more securely and reliably supported bythe tooth 46B and is spaced inwardly from the tip of the leading edge47.

A further incremental clockwise rotation of the disks 40 and 41 bringsthe upper edge of the article 21A into contact with the curved portion131 of the leaf spring 127 as indicated in FIG. 5. A continuedincremental rotation of the disk 41 past its position of FIG. 5maintains the upper edge of the article 21A in contact with the leafspring portion 131 thus further preventing any tendency of the article21A to become dislodged from the tooth 46B and also tending to assistthe article 21A in assuming a forwardly sloped rather than strictlyvertical position as the article 21A, during continued rotation of thedisks 40 and 41, reaches its uppermost position shown in FIG. 1.

In the particular embodiment shown, each of the disks Mind 41 has fourevenly spaced teeth so that as a tooth 46 approaches its uppermostposition as indicated in FIG. 3, the adjacent and following tooth 46will be moving into the position of the tooth 463 shown in FIG. 8 and asabove described, whereby the abovementioned process of picking up afurther article 21 is repeated.

As the article 21 is carried upwardly toward and past aboveits uppermostposition shown in FIG. 3 the trailing edge 52 thereof rides on the guiderods 51 further tending to tip same from a vertical to an angledposition as shown in FIG. 3. Thereafter, continued rotation of the disks40 and 41 causes the article to be deposited upon the output conveyorsurface 33 which transfers same in the direction 13 indicated in FIG. 1toward and past the work station 35 whereat any convenient workoperation such as a pasting operation in the case of a battery grid maybe carried out.

Although the above discussion has been in terms of a stack of articles21 it will be noted that the articles 21 may be placed upon the conveyorchains 24 and 25 one at a time, said chains causing such an article tomove onto the support edge 62 of the oscillating members 56" intoabutment with the abutment edge 64 thereof for being picked up by thecorresponding teeth of the pickup disks 40 and 41.

MODIFICATIONS carry the same reference numeral thereas. Parts of theapparatus which are generally similar but modified will carry the samereference numerals with an added letter suffix.

FIG. 9 discloses a modified device A which differs from the device 10 ofFIG. 1 in the output section 13A thereof. The modified output section13A consists of a downwardly and forwardly angled and substantiallyplatelike slide or chute 136 having an upper or rearward portion 137disposed between the disks 40 and 41, the rearward end 138 of the chute136 being spaced close above the upper end of the chain 44 and adjacentand below the ends of the guide rods 51 (shown in FIG. 2). If desired,the'forward portion 139 of the chute 136 may be widened to a widthexceeding the spacing of the disks and the width of the articles 21 andprovided with upstanding sidewalls 140 for preventing sideward motion ofthe articles 21 off the chute 136.

Thus, articles carried by the disks 40 and 41 will be deposited therebyon the chute 136 and will slide forwardly and downwardly therealong to adesired location for processing of the like.

Turning now to a further modification, FIGS. 10 and 11 disclose amodified device 10B having a modified output section 13B and a transfersection 12B modified by inclusion of a discharge assist assembly 145arranged for assisting the discharge of articles 21 from the disks 40and 41 and onto the output section 138.

The output section 138 includes an endless belt conveyor 368 havinganupper reach 33B disposed above the shaft 42 supporting the disks 40and 41, the disk 40 being shown in FIG. 10. The rearward or rightwardend 47 of the belt conveyor 36B is spaced from the shaft 42 by adistance substantially equal to the diameter of the disks 40 and 41. Ifdesired, an article hold-down device 148 may be provided at each side ofthe rearward or input end of the conveyor 368 for snugly holdingincoming articles against the upper reach 338 thereof, here by means ofrollers 149.

The discharge assist assembly 145 includes an article support plate 151spaced between the sidewalls 17 and 18 of the frame of the device 108,and supported in fixed relation thereto by a cross bar 150 at theforward end thereof. The forward or leftward end 152 of the plate 51overhangs the rearward end 147 of the conveyor 36B and therightward orrearward end 153 of the plate 151 is disposed below the upper or forwardend 155 of the guide rods 151.

The discharge assist assembly 145 further includes a laterally spacedpair of substantially upstanding discharge rods 157 (FIGS. 10 and 11),disposed on opposite sides of the plate 151, and support and actuatingmeans 158 therefor.

The support and actuating means 158 includes an eccentric or cam 160fixedly mounted on the cam shaft 79 discussed above in connection withFIGS. 4 and 5, the cam 160 preferably being disposed substantiallycentrally on the cam shaft 79. A rocker shaft 162 extends between and ispivotally mounted on the sidewalls 17 and 18 by bearings 163. The rods157 extend through suitable openings in the rocker shaft 162 and arehere longitudinally adjustably anchored thereon by set screws 164. Atension spring 165 extends between a mounting bolt 166 on the sidewall18 and a further bolt 167 fixed to and extending radially and rearwardlyfrom the shaft 162 for resiliently biasing the shaft 162 and rods 157 ina rearward or clockwise direction. A cam follower arm 169 is pivotallymounted adjacent the central portion on the rocker shaft 162 for pivotalmovement with respect thereto. The cam follower arm 169 is held againstaxial movement along the shaft 162 by any convenient means not shown. Aroller 171 is rotatably mounted by a screw 172 adjacent the upper end ofthe cam follower arm 169 in opposition to the periphery of the cam 160and is adapted to bear thereon. A further arm 173 is fixed to the rockershaft 162 by a set screw indicated in broken lines at 174 and isdisposed adjacent the cam follower arm 169, the further arm 173 normallydepending from the shaft 162. The cam follower arm 169 is adapted forpivoting the arm 173 and hence the shaft 162 in response to rotation ofthe cam 160 by a lost motion connection 176.

The lost motion connection 176 comprises a plate 178 secured by a screw180 to an angled portion 179 on the forward face of the cam follower arm169 adjacent the bottom end thereof. The plate 178 laterally overhangsthe further arm 173. A manually adjustable screw 182 threadedly engagesand extends through the overhanging portion of the plate 178, the tip183 of the screw 182 being adapted to abut the forward face 184 of thefurther arm 173. A spring 185 is provided on the screw 182 between theplate 178 and the head thereof for resiliently biasing the screw 182outwardly or forwardly with respect to the plate 178.

The use of the lost motion connection between the discharge rods and thecam follower arm allows, by adjustment of the screw 182, adjustment ofthe end points of the path of the discharge rod, as may be desired foradapting the device 10B to handle articles 21 of different heightswithout changing the cam 160.

Considering the operation of the device 108, as an article 21 isadvanced forwardly by the disks 40 and 41 to its position shown in FIG.10, the rods 157 will be in their forwardmost position shown in solidlines. As rotation of the shafts 42 and 79 continues in a clockwisedirection, the article 21 will be advanced further forwardly with itsrearward edge moving along the upper portion of the guide rods 51 towardthe forward ends thereof. Simultaneously, rotation of the cam reducesthe radius thereof presented to the roller 171. Thus, the spring pivotsthe rocker shaft 162, discharge rods 157 and arms 173 and 169 in aclockwise direction from their positions shown in FIG. 10. After the camhas rotated through approximately a half circle from its position shownin FIG. 10, the discharge rods 157 will reach their rearwardmostlimiting position indicated in broken lines at 157! whereat the upperends thereof are disposed inwardly of the curve of the guide rods 51 andare spaced somewhat rearwardly from the support plate 151.

At approximately the time that the discharge rods 157 reach theirrearwardmost position 157' or slightly thereafter, the article 21 willbe advanced forwardly sufficiently by the disks 40 and 41 that therearward end thereof will drop from the ends 155 of the guide rods 51onto the support plate 151 adjacent the rearward end 153 thereof.Continued rotation of the disks 40 and 41 and of the cam 160 then causesthe radius of the cam 160 presented to the roller 171 to increase,pivoting the cam follower arm 169 in a counterclockwise direction andthrough the lost motion connection 176 correspondingly pivoting thefurther arm 173,

shaft 162 and discharge rods 157 for moving the rods movement of thedischarge rods urges the article 21 forwardly along the support plate151 so that the cars 22 thereof move radially outwardly beyond the pathof the teeth 46 of the disks 40 and 41 while the teeth 46 whichpreviously engaged the article 21 are still well spaced above the plate151.

Continued rotation of the disks 40 and 41 and cam 160 returns thedischarge assist assembly 145 and hence the discharge rods 157 to theirforwardmost position shown in solid lines in FIG. 10, whereat theforward end of the article 21 will have been moved off the plate 51 andbetween the pressure rollers 149 and belt 36B. Thus, the belt 363frictionally engages the article 21 with sufficient force as to carrysame forwardly with the upper reach 33B thereof.

The above cycle of operation repeats for each article 21 presented tothe discharge rods 157 by the disks 40 and 41.

The above described portion of the device B assures that each article 21will be positively disengaged from the disks 40 and 41 and substantiallypositively engaged with the belt 338. The presentation of each article21 to the belt 33B is thus positively and'precisely timed in relation tothe rotation of the disks 40 and 41 by the movement of the dischargerods 157, which is positively synchronized with the rotation of thedisks 40 and 41, to precisely maintain a predetermined spacing betweenarticles 21 on the upper reach 33B of the output conveyor 368.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognizedthat variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, includingthe rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the presentinvention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a device for feeding articles from a stack, the combinationcomprising:

input conveyor means for advancing articles in stacked relation andaxially of the stack thereof to a location;

a rotatable pickup disk and tooth means on said disk movable in a pathadjacent said location for moving said articles in successivepredetermined size groups of at least one article away from theremainder of said stack on said input conveyor means;

oscillating means at said location and interposed between said inputconveyor means and pickup disk for successively removing at least onesuch article group at a time from said stack on said input conveyormeans and into the path of said tooth means, said oscillating meansincluding an article support surface;

means for synchronously moving said oscillating means and rotating saidpickup disk in such relationship that said tooth means approaches saidsupport surface when said support surface approaches one limitingposition thereof and for causing said oscillating means to return to anopposite limiting position thereof after said pickup disk has removed anarticle therefrom.

2. The device defined in claim 1, including anoutput conveyor located onthe side of said pickup means opposite said oscillating means forreceiving articles from said pickup means.

3. The device defined in claim 1, in which said oscillating meanscomprises a substantially L-shaped oscillating member having a supportleg and a drive leg and pivot means for pivotally supporting sameadjacent the;

5 juncture of said legs, said support surface comprising an end edgelocated at the end of said support leg, said means for moving saidoscillating member being connected to said drive leg adjacent the endthereof.

4. The device defined in claim 3, in which said drive leg extendssubstantially horizontally from said pivot means and said support legextends substantially vertically from said pivot means, said supportsurface being located at the upper end of said support leg and extendingsubstantially in parallelism with said drive leg, said support legincluding a tab extending upwardly beyond said support surface at theend thereof closest to said drive leg and defining an upstandingabutment surface facing toward said support surface for preventingmovement of articles along said support surface therepast, said inputmeans defining an article supporting surface substantially coplanar withsaid support surface when said oscillating member is in said firstposition so that articles may be moved smoothly from said input means tosaid support surface when said oscillating member is in said firstposition and into contact with said abutment surface, said supportsurface being raised above said upper surface of said input means whensaid oscillating member is in said second limiting position to preventsaid input means from applying further articles to said support surface.

5. The device defined in claim 4 including means defining a stop facedisposed adjacent said tab and facing toward said articles on saidsupport surface and located in fixed relation with respect to saidsecond limiting position of said oscillating member in a manner thatsaid tab moves away from said input means and past said stop face whensaid oscillating member moves to said second limiting position, saidarticles overhanging said support surface for contact by said stop face,movement of said articles on said support surface toward said secondlimiting position being limited by contact thereof with said stop faceas said oscillating member moves a last increment into said secondlimiting position, said pickup means comprising on said disk a toothadapted for movement substantially upwardly past said stop face and pastsaid abutment surface when said oscillating member is in said secondlimiting position, said tooth having a leading edge which overhangs saidstop face by a distance less than the total length of said leading edgewhich distance exceeds half the thickness of one of said articleswhereby said tooth will pick up from said support surface only theadjacent one of said articles.

6. The device defined in claim 5 including guide means disposed abovearticles on said support surface when said oscillating member is in saidsecond limiting position, said guide means having a portion overhangingthe path of said tooth and lying in the path of an article raised bysaid tooth from said support surface for engaging said article andshifting same along said leading edge of said tooth away from the freeend of said leading edge and into firmly supported engagement with saidtooth to prevent said article from being dislodged from said tooth.

7. The device defined in claim 6 including an elongated guide elementwhich is disposed adjacent the path of the tooth in the region thereofbeyond said guide means and which iscapable of contacting the upper edgeof an article supported on said tooth for maintaining same in firmengagement therewith through a substantial portion of the path movementof said tooth.

8. The device defined in claim 3 in which said tooth means comprisessaid tooth on the periphery of a rotatable disk, said disk having meanssupporting same in fixed location with respect to said pivot means ofsaid oscillating member for causing said tooth to follow a circularorbit past said second limiting position on said oscillating member,said means for moving said oscillating member comprising a rotatable camshaft and means on said drive leg of said oscillating member forengaging said cam shaft whereby rotation of said cam shaft causespivotal oscillation of said oscillating member, said means for movingsaid oscillating member and further including means synchronizing therotation of said disk and the rotation of said cam shaft in a mannerthat said disk rotates one tooth past said input means per oscillationof said oscillating member.

9. The device defined in claim 8 including a cam following rollersupported on said drive leg adjacent the free end thereof and resilientbias means for urging said .cam following roller against said cam shaftin a continuous manner to cause said drive leg to rise and fall as doesthe surface of said cam shaft during rotation thereof.

10. In a device for feeding articles, the combination comprising:

an input endless conveyor having a substantially horizontal upper reachfor supporting a plurality of articles and means for moving said upperreach at a first speed in a forward direction;

a pickup disk having at least one tooth on the periphery thereof and ashaft for rotatably supporting said disk, said shaft being verticallylocated adjacent the plane of the upper reach of said input conveyor andbeing horizontally located with respect thereto in a manner that theorbit of the teeth on said disk is located near the forward end of saidconveyor reach;

a substantially L-shaped oscillating member having a substantiallyupstanding support leg and a substantially forwardly extending drive legand pivot means for 'pivotally supporting said oscillating memberadjacent the juncture of said legs, said oscillating member and diskbeing disposed in parallel but spaced planes, said oscillating memberand input conveyor means defining parallel but spaced planes, saidsupport leg of said oscillating member being disposed substantiallybetweensaid disk and said input conveyor means and being movable betweena first limiting position and a second limiting position spacedforwardly and above said first limiting position, said support leghaving at the upper end thereof a support edge which in said firstlimiting position is substantially horizontal and coplanar with the topof the upper reach of said input conveyor and defining the upper end ofa portion of said support leg which overlies said input conveyor meanswhereby said support edge will smoothly re ceive articles urged by saidinput conveyor means thereonto, said support leg having an upstandingtab which extends upwardly from and determines the forward end of saidsupport edge for limiting the number of said articles which can be urgedby said input conveyor onto said support edge;

means engageable with said drive leg for oscillating said oscillatingmember between said first and second limiting positions, said supportedge when in said second limiting position being disposed above saidinput conveyor means for preventing placement of further articlesthereonto by said input conveyor means, said tab when in said secondlimiting position overlying said disk so that the forwardmost article onsaid support edge abutting said tab lies in the path of said tooth onsaid disk and will be lifted thereby from said support edge when saidoscillating member is in said second limiting position.

11. The device defined in claim 10 including means for synchronizingrotation of said disk and said oscillating member according to a fixedrelationship, such relationship being that one tooth on said disk movespast said tab for each complete cycle of oscillation of said oscillatingmember from said first to said second and back to said first limitingposition and for causing said oscillating member to be in said secondlimiting position as said tooth moves past the tab for lifting anarticle from said support edge.

v 12. The device defined in claim 11 including a cam shaft and means forrotatably supporting same in fixed relation to said pivot axis of saidoscillating member and adjacent said drive leg thereof and means on saiddrive leg for continuously contacting said cam so that said camoscillates said oscillating member, the rotational rates of said disksupporting shaft and said cam shaft being related in the ratio of thenumber of teeth on the periphery of said disk to the number of lobes onsaid cam.

13. The device defined in claim 11 in which said first speed exceeds therate of advancement of articles along said support edge provided byremoval of articles therefrom by said toothed disk so as to continuouslyurge articles against portions of said oscillating mem ber.

14. The device defined in claim 11 including an output conveyor locatedforwardly of said disk for reception of articles therefrom and a workstation located along said output conveyor means for carrying out workoperations on said articles and means for moving said output conveyor ata rate synchronized with the rate of rotation of said toothed disk.

15. The device defined in claim 10 including a stop block located besidethe disk in overlapping relation with the path of the teeth on said diskand in overlapping relation with the path of said tab as same passesinto and out of said second limiting position, said stop block having arearward face engageable with articles on said support edge forpreventing said articles from following said tab completely to saidsecond limiting position and including means for forwardly andrearwardly adjusting the position of said stop block with respect tosaid disk in a manner that said rearward face will limit forwardmovement of the forwardmost article on said support surface to alocation whereat the tooth on said disk will engage the forwardmost oneof the articles on said support surface but not the next rearward one ofsaid articles thereon.

16. The device defined in claim 10 including an upstanding support barlocated adjacent to said input conveyor and close spaced rearwardly fromsaid oscillating member, said support bar extending upwardly beyond saidoscillating member and being arranged for adjustably carrying a guideroller disposed adjacent the path of the teeth of said disk andimmediately above articles on said oscillating member when saidoscillating memher is in its second limiting position, said guide rollerbeing positioned to engage the rearward face of an article as it ispicked up from said support edge by said disk tooth and to urge saidarticle fully onto said tooth into abutting relationship with theadjacent periphery of said disk, said upstanding support bar furtheradjustably carrying a leaf spring which extends forwardly therefrom andincludes a portion curved substantially at a constant radius withrespect to the axis of said disk and located adjacent the path of saidteeth on said disk for preventing articles supported on said teeth frombeing dislodged therefrom as said articles are moved beyond said guideroller.

17. The device defined in claim in which a laterally spaced pair of saiddisks are provided, a laterally spaced pair of said oscillating membersare provided, said spacing of said disks and said spacing of saidoscillating members being less than the width of said articles so thateach article is suspended first between said oscillating members andthen between said disks.

18. In a device for feeding articles from a stack, the

combination comprising:

input conveyor means for axially advancing a stack of articles toward alocation;

a rotatable pickup disk and tooth means on said disk movable in a pathadjacent said location for moving said articles in successivepredetermined size groups of at least one article away-from said inputconveyor means;

oscillating means for separating at least one such article group fromsaid stack and shifting said article group in substantially unalteredorientation from said input conveyor means into the path of said toothmeans on said disk so that said tooth means can move said article groupaway from-said input conveyor without interference from other articlesin said stack on said input conveyor means, said 0scillating means beinginterposed between said input conveyor means and said pickup disk.

19. The device defined in claim 18, in which said oscillating meanscomprises a lever member pivoted at one end and having an articleengaging support surface at the other end and remote from said pivot.

20. The device defined in claim 19, in which said input conveyor meansincludes a pair of reach means spaced transversely of the path ofadvancement of said articles for supporting said articles in dependingrelation therefrom, said oscillating means including a pair of saidlever members and means locating same on opposite sides of saidadvancement path for dependently supporting said articles therefrom in afree swinging manner, there being a similarly spaced pair ofsaid pickupdisks, the tooth means of which are adapted to pendently support saidarticles, and further including means remote from said location andengageable with depending portions of said article for tilting saidarticles in response to movement thereof by said disks.

21. The device defined in claim 18, in which said oscillating meansincludes an article engaging support surface and including meansdefining a fixed stop for stopping forward movement of the leading oneof said articles away from said input conveyor means and toward saiddisk at a point in the path of said tooth means, said fixed stop beinglocated adjacent said pickup disk and support surface.

22. The device defined in claim 21, in which said tooth means comprisesa tooth extending from a root adjacent the periphery of the disk andincluding guide means located above said support surface and stop andadjacent said path of said tooth for positively urging an article tolocate on said tooth at said root thereof.

23. The device defined in claim 21, in which said support surface is anend edge of said lever member and including a tab upstanding from saidsupport surface adjacent said pickup disk for limiting the number ofarticles receivable on said support surface.

1. In a device for feeding articles from a stack, the combinationcomprising: input conveyor means for advancing articles in stackedrelation and axially of the stack thereof to a location; a rotatablepickup disk and tooth means on said disk movable in a path adjacent saidlocation for moving said articles in successive predetermined sizegroups of at least one article away from the remainder of said stack onsaid input conveyor means; oscillating means at said location andinterposed between said input conveyor means and pickup disk forsuccessively removing at least one such article group at a time fromsaid stack on said input conveyor means and into the path of said toothmeans, said oscillating means including an article support surface;means for synchronously moving said oscillating means and rotating saidpickup disk in such relationship that said tooth means approaches saidsupport surface when said support surface approaches a second limitingposition thereof and for causing said oscillating means to return to afirst and opposite limiting position thereof after said pickup disk hasremoved an article therefrom.
 2. The device defined in claim 1,including an output conveyor located on the side of said pickup diskopposite said oscillating means for receiving articles from said pickupmeans.
 3. The device defined in claim 1, in which said oscillating meanscomprises a substantially L-shaped oscillating member having a supportleg and a drive leg and pivot means for pivotally supporting sameadjacent the juncture of said legs, said support surface comprising anend edge located at the end of said support leg, said means for movingsaid oscillating member being connected to said drive leg adjacent theend thereof.
 4. The device defined in claim 3, in which said drive legextends substantially horizontally from said pivot means and saidsupport leg extends substantially vertically from said pivot means, saidsupport surface being located at the upper end of said support leg andextending substantially in parallelism with said drive leg, said supportleg including a tab extending upwardly beyond said support surface atthe end thereof closest to said drive leg and defining an upstandingabutment surface facing toward said support surface for preventingmovement of articles along said support surface therepast, said inputmeans defining an article supporting upper surface substantiallycoplanar with said support surface when said oscillating member is insaid first position so that articles may be moved smoothly from saidinput means to said support surface when said oscillating member is insaid first position and into contact with said abutment surface, saidsupport surface being raised above said upper surface of said inputmeans when said oscillating member is in said second limiting positionto prevent said input means from applying further articles to saidsupport surface.
 5. The device defined in claim 4 including meansdefining a stop face disposed adjacent said tab and facing toward saidarticles on said support surface and located in fixed relation withrespect to said second limiting position of said oscillating member in amanner that said tab moves away from said input means and past said stopface when said oscillating member moves to said second limitingposition, said articles overhanging said support surface for contact bysaid stop face, movement of said articles on said support surface towardsaid second limiting position being limited by contact thereof with saidstop face as said oscillating member moves a last increment into saidsecond limiting position, said pickup means comprising on said diskadapted for movement substantially upwardly past said stop face and pastsaid abutment surface when said oscillating member is in said secondlimiting position, said tooth having a leading edge which overhangs saidstop face by a distance less than the total length of said leading edgewhich distance exceeds half the thickness of one of said articleswhereby said tooth will pick up from said support surface only theadjacent one of said articles.
 6. The device defined in claim 5including guide means disposed above articles on said support surfacewhen said oscillating member is in said second limiting position, saidguide means having a portion overhanging the path of said tooth andlying in the path of an article raised by said tooth from said supportsurface fOr engaging said article and shifting same along said leadingedge of said tooth away from the free end of said leading edge and intofirmly supported engagement with said tooth to prevent said article frombeing dislodged from said tooth.
 7. The device defined in claim 6including an elongated guide element which is disposed adjacent the pathof the tooth in the region thereof beyond said guide means and which iscapable of contacting the upper edge of an article supported on saidtooth for maintaining same in firm engagement therewith through asubstantial portion of the path of movement of said tooth.
 8. The devicedefined in claim 3 in which said tooth means comprises said tooth on theperiphery of a rotatable disk, said disk having means supporting same infixed location with respect to said pivot means of said oscillatingmember for causing said tooth to follow a circular orbit past saidsecond limiting position of said oscillating member, said means formoving said oscillating member comprising a rotatable cam shaft andmeans on said drive leg of said oscillating member for engaging said camshaft whereby rotation of said cam shaft causes pivotal oscillation ofsaid oscillating member, said means for moving said oscillating memberfurther including means synchronizing the rotation of said disk and therotation of said cam shaft in a manner that said disk rotates one toothpast said input means per oscillation of said oscillating member.
 9. Thedevice defined in claim 8 including a cam following roller supported onsaid drive leg adjacent the free end thereof and resilient bias meansfor urging said cam following roller against said cam shaft in acontinuous manner to cause said drive leg to rise and fall as does thesurface of said cam shaft during rotation thereof.
 10. In a device forfeeding articles, the combination comprising: an input endless conveyorhaving a substantially horizontal upper reach for supporting a pluralityof articles and means for moving said upper reach at a first speed in aforward direction; a pickup disk having at least one tooth on theperiphery thereof and a shaft for rotatably supporting said disk, saidshaft being vertically located adjacent the plane of the upper reach ofsaid input conveyor and being horizontally located with respect theretoin a manner that the orbit of the teeth on said disk is located near theforward end of said conveyor reach; a substantially L-shaped oscillatingmember having a substantially upstanding support leg and a substantiallyforwardly extending drive leg and pivot means for pivotally supportingsaid oscillating member adjacent the juncture of said legs, saidoscillating member and disk being disposed in parallel but spacedplanes, said oscillating member and input conveyor means definingparallel but spaced planes, said support leg of said oscillating memberbeing disposed substantially between said disk and said input conveyorand being movable between a first limiting position and a secondlimiting position spaced forwardly and above said first limitingposition, said support leg having at the upper end thereof a supportedge which in said first limiting position is substantially horizontaland coplanar with the top of the upper reach of said input conveyor anddefining the upper end of a portion of said support leg which overliessaid input conveyor whereby said support edge will smoothly receivearticles urged by said input conveyor thereonto, said support leg havingan upstanding tab which extends upwardly from and determines the forwardend of said support edge for limiting the number of said articles whichcan be urged by said input conveyor onto said support edge; meansengageable with said drive leg for oscillating said oscillating memberbetween said first and second limiting positions, said support edge whenin said second limiting position being disposed above said inputconveyor for preventing placement of further articles thereonto by saidinput conveyor, said tab when in said second limiting position overlyingsaid disk so that the forwardmost article on said support edge abuttingsaid tab lies in the path of said tooth on said disk and will be liftedthereby from said support edge when said oscillating member is in saidsecond limiting position.
 11. The device defined in claim 10 includingmeans for synchronizing rotation of said disk and said oscillatingmember according to a fixed relationship, such relationship being thatone tooth on said disk moves past said tab for each complete cycle ofoscillation of said oscillating member from said first to said secondand back to said first limiting position and for causing saidoscillating member to be in said second limiting position as said toothmoves past the tab for lifting an article from said support edge. 12.The device defined in claim 11 including a cam shaft and means forrotatably supporting same in fixed relation to said pivot axis of saidoscillating member and adjacent said drive leg thereof and means on saiddrive leg for continuously contacting said cam so that said camoscillates said oscillating member, the rotational rates of said disksupporting shaft and said cam shaft being related in the ratio of thenumber of teeth on the periphery of said disk to the number of lobes onsaid cam.
 13. The device defined in claim 11 in which said first speedexceeds the rate of advancement of articles along said support edgeprovided by removal of articles therefrom by said toothed disk so as tocontinuously urge articles against portions of said oscillating member.14. The device defined in claim 11 including an output conveyor locatedforwardly of said disk for reception of articles therefrom and a workstation located along said output conveyor for carrying out workoperations on said articles and means for moving said output conveyor ata rate synchronized with the rate of rotation of said toothed disk. 15.The device defined in claim 10 including a stop block located beside thedisk in overlapping relation with the path of the teeth on said disk andin overlapping relation with the path of said tab as same passes intoand out of said second limiting position, said stop block having arearward face engageable with articles on said support edge forpreventing said articles from following said tab completely to saidsecond limiting position and including means for forwardly andrearwardly adjusting the position of said stop block with respect tosaid disk in a manner that said rearward face will limit forwardmovement of the forwardmost article on said support surface to alocation whereat the tooth on said disk will engage the forwardmost oneof the articles on said support surface but not the next rearward one ofsaid articles thereon.
 16. The device defined in claim 10 including anupstanding support bar located adjacent to said input conveyor and closespaced rearwardly from said oscillating member, said support barextending upwardly beyond said oscillating member and being arranged foradjustably carrying a guide roller disposed adjacent the path of theteeth of said disk and immediately above articles on said oscillatingmember when said oscillating member is in its second limiting position,said guide roller being positioned to engage the rearward face of anarticle as it is picked up from said support edge by said disk tooth andto urge said article fully onto said tooth into abutting relationshipwith the adjacent periphery of said disk, said upstanding support barfurther adjustably carrying a leaf spring which extends forwardlytherefrom and includes a portion curved substantially at a constantradius with respect to the axis of said disk and located adjacent thepath of said teeth on said disk for preventing articles supported onsaid teeth from being dislodged therefrom as said articles are movedbeyond said guide roller.
 17. The device defined in claim 10 in which alaterally spaced pair of said disks are provided, a laterally spacedpair of Said oscillating members are provided, said spacing of saiddisks and said spacing of said oscillating members being less than thewidth of said articles so that each article is suspended first betweensaid oscillating members and then between said disks.
 18. In a devicefor feeding articles from a stack, the combination comprising: inputconveyor means for axially advancing a stack of articles toward alocation; a rotatable pickup disk and tooth means on said disk movablein a path adjacent said location for moving said articles in successivepredetermined size groups of at least one article away from said inputconveyor means; oscillating means for separating at least one sucharticle group from said stack and shifting said article group insubstantially unaltered orientation from said input conveyor means intothe path of said tooth means on said disk so that said tooth means canmove said article group away from said input conveyor withoutinterference from other articles in said stack on said input conveyormeans, said oscillating means being interposed between said inputconveyor means and said pickup disk.
 19. The device defined in claim 18,in which said oscillating means comprises a lever member pivoted at oneend and having an article engaging support surface at the other end andremote from said pivot.
 20. The device defined in claim 19, in whichsaid input conveyor means includes a pair of reach means spacedtransversely of the path of advancement of said articles for supportingsaid articles in depending relation therefrom, said oscillating meansincluding a pair of said lever members and means locating same onopposite sides of said advancement path for dependently supporting saidarticles therefrom in a free swinging manner, there being a similarlyspaced pair of said pickup disks, the tooth means of which are adaptedto pendently support said articles, and further including means remotefrom said location and engageable with depending portions of saidarticle for tilting said articles in response to movement thereof bysaid disks.
 21. The device defined in claim 18, in which saidoscillating means includes an article engaging support surface andincluding means defining a fixed stop for stopping forward movement ofthe leading one of said articles away from said input conveyor means andtoward said disk at a point in the path of said tooth means, said fixedstop being located adjacent said pickup disk and support surface. 22.The device defined in claim 21, in which said tooth means comprises atooth extending from a root adjacent the periphery of the disk andincluding guide means located above said support surface and stop andadjacent said path of said tooth for positively urging an article tolocate on said tooth at said root thereof.
 23. The device defined inclaim 21, in which said support surface is an end edge of said levermember and including a tab upstanding from said support surface adjacentsaid pickup disk for limiting the number of articles receivable on saidsupport surface.